TW202322306A - Substrate processing apparatus including impedance adjuster, substrate processing method, and impedance adjusting method - Google Patents

Abstract

A substrate processing apparatus is disclosed. An exemplary substrate processing apparatus includes a reaction chamber; a susceptor positioned within the reaction chamber to be constructed and arranged to support a substrate; a shower plate to be constructed and arranged to face the susceptor; and an RF generator electrically coupled to the shower plate via an RF plate, with the susceptor electrically grounded; wherein the RF plate is provided with a plurality of impedance adjusters.

Description

Substrate handling equipment including impedance adjusters

The present disclosure generally relates to substrate processing equipment. More particularly, exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure relate to substrate processing equipment that includes impedance adjusters.

Reaction chambers are used to process substrates therein (for example, to deposit layers of various materials onto semiconductor substrates). A substrate is placed on a susceptor within the reaction chamber. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing an example of a substrate processing apparatus. Exemplary substrate processing apparatus is disclosed in US Patent Application Serial No. 17/039874, which is hereby incorporated by reference. The substrate processing equipment has a parallel plate structure including a base 10 and a shower plate 14 . The shower plate 14 is provided with a plurality of holes, so that the gas is supplied to the substrate placed on the susceptor 10, causing the thin film to be deposited on the substrate. The shower plate 14 is fitted on the exhaust duct 12 via an O-ring (not shown).

The relay ring 18 is placed on the upper body 16 and the shower plate 14 . The RF board 20 is connected to the relay ring 18 . Applying RF power to the shower plate 14 via the RF plate 20 and the relay ring 18 establishes an RF plasma between the shower plate 14 and the susceptor 10 .

The deposition or other treatment on the surface of the substrate can have a desired pattern. For example, it may be desirable to have the layer(s) of deposited material on the substrate have a uniform thickness across the surface of the substrate. That is, even material deposition may be desirable. In some instances, however, it may be desirable that the deposition of material at or adjacent to one portion of the substrate be different from the deposition on another portion of the substrate. Accordingly, it is thus desirable to have apparatus and methods that allow for the ability to adjust throughput on a substrate in certain regions of the substrate (e.g., to promote more equal and/or uniform deposition on the substrate surface) .

Any discussion presented in this section (including discussion of problems and solutions) is included in this disclosure for the purpose of providing context only, and should not be taken as an admission that any or all of the discussion was known at the time this invention was made or otherwise known. manner constitutes prior art.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form. These concepts will be described in further detail below in the implementation of example embodiments of the present disclosure. This Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

According to an exemplary embodiment of the present disclosure, a substrate processing device is provided. The substrate processing apparatus may comprise a reaction chamber; a susceptor constructed and arranged to support a substrate positioned within the reaction chamber; a shower plate constructed and arranged to face the susceptor; and electrically coupled via an RF board To one of the RF generators on the shower board, and the base is electrically grounded; wherein the RF board is provided with a plurality of impedance adjusters.

In various embodiments, the RF board may be a ring structure.

In various embodiments, impedance adjusters may be provided every 90 degrees on the RF board.

In various embodiments, the impedance adjuster may include at least one of a capacitor and an inductor.

In various embodiments, the impedance adjuster may be a resonant circuit.

In various embodiments, the capacitor can include an adjustable capacitance, and the inductor can include an adjustable inductance.

In various embodiments, the shower plate may be provided with a plurality of holes for supplying gas to the substrate.

In various embodiments, a matching box may be disposed between the RF generator and the RF board.

In various embodiments, a relay ring may be disposed between the shower plate and the impedance adjuster.

In various embodiments, a substrate processing apparatus may include one or more reaction chamber modules, each reaction chamber module including two or more reaction stations; a base positioned within each reaction station constructed and configured to support a substrate; a shower plate positioned within each station constructed and configured to face the susceptor; and an RF generator electrically coupled to RF power via an RF board to provide communication to the shower plate, And the base is electrically grounded; wherein the RF board is provided with a plurality of impedance adjusters.

In various embodiments, a method of processing a substrate may include placing a substrate on a susceptor; generating a plasma between the shower plate and the susceptor by applying a high frequency power to a shower plate, while A gas is provided between the shower board and the base from the shower board facing the base; wherein the high frequency power is supplied to the shower board through a plurality of impedance regulators.

In various embodiments, high frequency power may include a frequency of 13.56 MHz or greater.

In various embodiments, a method may include adjusting an impedance of a first impedance adjuster; and adjusting a first impedance of a shower plate coupled to the first impedance adjuster in response to the impedance of the first impedance adjuster. A portion adjacent to a first electric field; adjusts an impedance of a second impedance adjuster; and adjusts and couples to a second portion of the shower plate of the second impedance adjuster in response to the impedance of the second impedance adjuster adjacent to a second electric field.

Certain objects and advantages of the disclosure have been described herein above for the purpose of summarizing the disclosure and the advantages achieved over the prior art. Of course, it is to be understood that not all such objectives or advantages may be achieved in accordance with any particular embodiment of the present disclosure. Thus, for example, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that one advantage or group of advantages as taught or suggested herein may be achieved or optimized without necessarily achieving other objectives or advantages that may be taught or suggested herein manner to implement the embodiments disclosed herein.

All of these embodiments are intended to fall within the scope of the present disclosure. These and other embodiments will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art from the following detailed description of certain embodiments having reference to the accompanying drawings, the disclosure not being limited to any particular(s) discussed Example.

Although certain embodiments and examples are disclosed below, those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the disclosure extends beyond the specifically disclosed embodiments and/or uses of the disclosure, and obvious modifications and equivalents thereof thing. Therefore, it is intended that the scope of the present disclosure should not be limited by the specific embodiments described herein.

The drawings presented herein are not intended to be actual views of any particular material, device, structure, or device, but are merely representations used to describe embodiments of the disclosure.

In this disclosure, "gas" may include materials that are gases at normal temperature and pressure, vaporized solids and/or vaporized liquids, and may consist of a single gas or a gas mixture depending on the context. Gases other than process gases (i.e. gases introduced without passing through a gas supply unit such as a shower plate or the like) may be used, for example, to seal the reaction space and may include a sealing gas such as a noble gas or other inert gas. The term inert gas refers to a gas that does not participate in a chemical reaction to an appreciable extent, and/or that excites precursors when plasma power is applied. The terms precursor and reactant may be used interchangeably.

As used herein, the term "substrate" may refer to any one or more underlying materials that may be used or upon which a device, circuit, or film may be formed.

As used herein, the terms "film" and "thin film" may refer to any continuous or discontinuous structure and material deposited by the methods disclosed herein. For example, "membranes" and "thin films" may include 2D materials, nanorods, nanotubes, or nanoparticles, or even some or all molecular layers, or some or all atomic layers, or atomic and/or molecular clusters . "Film" and "film" may comprise a material or layer that is pinholed, yet is at least partially continuous.

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view of a substrate processing apparatus in an embodiment of the present invention. The substrate processing apparatus includes a reaction chamber 100; a susceptor 110 positioned within the reaction chamber 100 and configured to support a substrate 150; a shower plate 140 configured to face the susceptor 110; and an RF generator 160 , which is electrically coupled to the shower plate 140 via the RF board 120 such that the base 110 is electrically grounded. The RF board 120 is provided with a plurality of impedance adjusters 170 .

Applying high radio frequency (“HRF”) power (eg, 13.56 MHz or 27 MHz) to shower plate 140 can excite a plasma between shower plate 140 and susceptor 110 . A temperature regulator may be provided in the susceptor 110 to maintain a constant temperature of the substrate. The shower plate 140 may have a plurality of holes for supplying gas to the substrate 150 .

3 is a cross-sectional top view of an exemplary substrate processing apparatus. The RF board 120 may be in a ring structure. Impedance adjusters 170 may be provided every 90 degrees on the RF board 120 . Other embodiments may be possible, such as where the impedance adjusters 170 are provided every 60 degrees on the RF board 120 , or at other intervals along the RF board 120 . Additional impedance adjusters 170 along the RF board 120 may allow for additional control of impedance along the entirety of the RF board 120 .

4A-4C are schematic diagrams of exemplary substrate processing apparatus including impedance adjusters. The impedance adjuster 170 may include at least one of the capacitor 172 and the inductor 174, whereby if the impedance adjuster 170 includes both the capacitor 172 and the inductor 174, a resonant circuit may be formed. Capacitor 172 may include an adjustable capacitance, and inductor 174 may include an adjustable inductance. FIG. 4A illustrates an example embodiment in which impedance adjuster 170 includes both capacitor 172 and inductor 174 . FIG. 4B illustrates an example embodiment in which impedance adjuster 170 includes only capacitor 172 . FIG. 4C illustrates an example embodiment in which impedance adjuster 170 includes only inductor 174 .

Referring to FIG. 2 , a matching box 200 may be disposed between the RF generator 160 and the RF board 120 . The matching box 200 can generate an impedance that matches the internal impedance of the reaction chamber 100 with the impedance of the RF generator 160 . Further, a relay ring 180 may be disposed between the shower plate 140 and the impedance adjuster 170 to transmit RF power to the shower plate 140 .

During substrate processing (eg, during atomic layer deposition (ALD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), and/or the like), as electrons travel from the showerhead plate 140 to the pedestal, 110 forms an electric field around it. The electric field around different portions of susceptor 110 may be different, resulting in different processing results on different portions of substrate 150 corresponding to different adjacent electric fields. To avoid the difference, the impedance of the resonant circuit 170 can be adjusted. Adjusting the impedance of the resonant circuit 170 can adjust the power flowing through the shower plate 140 . For example, to adjust the impedance of the resonance circuit 170, the inductance of the inductor in the resonance circuit can be adjusted, and/or the capacitance of the capacitor in the resonance circuit can be adjusted. As a further example, to adjust the electric field around a portion of the shower plate 140, the capacitance of one of the four capacitors may be adjusted. Thereby, the impedance of one of the four resonant circuits can be adjusted, thereby changing the power flow. In addition, adjusting the impedance can result in a more uniform film deposited on the substrate 150 .

In some embodiments, a multi-chamber module (two or four chambers or stations for processing substrates placed close to each other) may be used, where reactant gases may be supplied through a common line and precursor gases may be supplied through a non-common pipeline supply.

Those of ordinary skill will appreciate that the apparatus includes one or more controllers programmed or otherwise configured to cause the deposition and reactor cleaning processes described elsewhere herein to be performed. As one of ordinary skill will appreciate, the controller(s) may communicate with the reactor's various power sources, heating systems, pumps, robots, and gas flow controllers or valves.

The example embodiments of the disclosure described above do not limit the scope of the invention, as these embodiments are merely examples of embodiments of the invention. Any equivalent embodiments are intended to be within the scope of this invention. Indeed, various modifications of the disclosure, such as alternative useful combinations of the described elements, will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this specification, in addition to those shown and described herein. Such modifications and embodiments are also intended to fall within the scope of the appended claims.

10: base 12: exhaust pipe 14: Spray plate 16: Upper body 18: Relay ring 20: RF board 100: reaction chamber 110: Base 120: RF board 140: spray plate 150: Substrate 160: RF generator 170: Impedance adjuster 172: Capacitor 174: Inductor 180: relay ring 200: Matching Box

A more complete understanding of the illustrative embodiments of the present disclosure may be had by reference to the detailed description and claims when considered in conjunction with the following illustrative drawings. FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional perspective view showing an example of a substrate processing apparatus. 2 is a cross-sectional view of an exemplary substrate processing apparatus in accordance with various embodiments. 3 is a cross-sectional top view of an exemplary substrate processing apparatus in accordance with various embodiments. 4A is a schematic diagram of an exemplary substrate processing apparatus including an impedance adjuster, according to various embodiments. 4B is a schematic diagram of a substrate processing apparatus including an impedance adjuster, according to various embodiments. 4C is a schematic diagram of a substrate processing apparatus including an impedance adjuster, according to various embodiments. It is to be understood that elements in the drawings are drawn for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to facilitate understanding of the illustrated embodiments of the present disclosure.

12: exhaust pipe

14: Spray plate

16: Upper body

100: reaction chamber

110: Base

120: RF board

140: spray plate

150: Substrate

160: RF generator

170: Impedance adjuster

172: Capacitor

174: Inductor

180: relay ring

200: Matching Box

Claims (13)

A substrate processing device comprising: a reaction chamber; a base positioned within the reaction chamber constructed and arranged to support a substrate; a shower panel constructed and arranged to face the base; and an RF generator electrically coupled to the shower plate via an RF plate, and the base is electrically grounded; Wherein the RF board is provided with a plurality of impedance adjusters. The substrate processing equipment as claimed in claim 1, wherein the RF plate is a ring structure. The substrate processing equipment according to claim 2, wherein the impedance adjusters are provided at intervals of 90 degrees on the RF board. The substrate processing equipment according to claim 1, wherein the impedance adjusters include at least one of a capacitor and an inductor. The substrate processing equipment according to claim 4, wherein the impedance adjusters are resonant circuits. The substrate processing equipment according to claim 4, wherein the capacitor includes an adjustable capacitance, and the inductor includes an adjustable inductance. The substrate processing equipment according to claim 1, wherein the shower plate is provided with a plurality of holes for supplying gas to the substrate. The substrate processing equipment according to claim 1, further comprising a matching box disposed between the RF generator and the RF board. The substrate processing equipment according to claim 1, further comprising a relay ring disposed between the shower plate and the impedance adjusters. A substrate processing device comprising: one or more reaction chamber modules, each reaction chamber module comprising two or more reaction stations; a base positioned within each reaction station constructed and arranged to support a substrate; a spray panel positioned within each station constructed and arranged to face the base; and an RF generator electrically coupled to RF power via an RF board to provide communication to the shower board, and the base is electrically grounded; Wherein the RF board is provided with a plurality of impedance adjusters. A substrate treatment method comprising: placing a substrate on a base; generating plasma between the shower plate and the susceptor by applying a high-frequency power to the shower plate, while supplying a gas between the shower plate and the susceptor from the shower plate facing the susceptor between seats; Wherein the high frequency power is supplied to the shower plate through a plurality of impedance regulators. The substrate processing method according to claim 9, wherein the high-frequency power includes a frequency of 13.56 MHz or greater. A method comprising: adjusting an impedance of a first impedance adjuster; adjusting a first electric field adjacent a first portion of a shower plate coupled to the first impedance adjuster in response to the impedance of the first impedance adjuster; adjusting an impedance of a second impedance adjuster; and A second electric field adjacent a second portion of the shower plate coupled to the second impedance adjuster is adjusted in response to the impedance of the second impedance adjuster.

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